a story yet to be written.

Dorothea had a certain image to maintain, not that she struggled to keep up the image of a pretentious art lover given that was exactly what she was but she altered certain behaviors to fit the stereotype. She spent too much time in less than amazing cafes in her opinion. Still, she found herself in another one, a subpar coffee in hand. “Working on the next great American novel?”

“That’s the goal.” Rohen shrugged, he was of course more than confident that his work could achieve a status close to that. “This great American novel has been in the works for close to two years, so it better be near to a classic.”

“…and that was the time that i brought in a switchblade into arkham and managed to get it to my mom without anyone noticing.” alexis giggled, looking over at the other. “honestly, she didn’t even need it at the end, because i brought in an apple for my mom too, but it’s the thought that counts right?”

“...Right!” Without wanting to let Alexis know that he had not actually heard anything said, he began chuckling. “How do you smuggle a switchblade into Arkham?”

her eyes roll before she can stop herself, but she waits anyway. the grin on her features giving away just how happy she is to see him. there’s two coffee cups being carried in her left hand and a paper bag full of food in her right. “i brought lunch,” she tell’s him telepathically. “figured you could take a break for a little while,”

Rohen breaks out in a grin the size of Emma’s diamond collection at the sight of his triplet with food and coffee. “Your spot as my favorite family member remains tied with mom.” He replied, shutting his laptop and holding a hand out. “But if this coffee doesn’t have soy milk, you’re on thin ice, Del.”

“i don’t doubt that for a second. but doesn’t it feel amazing now it is?” she could remember how she felt finishing her own work, back at metro college ; memory as crystal clear as if it were just yesterday. at the time, she had thought nothing could compare to that feeling of ACCOMPLISHMENT. “she does love an excuse to-” show off? “dress up. what better one than celebrating her son?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely, it feels like a huge weight lifted.” The thesis caused Rohen a lot of stress the past few weeks, being done with it now was a major relief for him. He knew he could do it, but getting it done was exhausting. “Fair enough. My mother is good at a lot, but party throwing and dressing up are up there as the best.”

“we both live our lives with the pure intent of promoting our podcast,” margot said with a laugh. “i can’t wait for the day i write a true crime book and plug the show at the end.”

“We’re walking advertisements, really. Oh, I am definitely planning on writing a crime thriller and plugging in the show at the end. If I ever make it big, all I'm doing is shamelessly plugging the show.”

etienne had never struggled with school - it was OBVIOUS. he graduated awhile before everyone who graduated who was around his age and was also incredibly ahead in his studies for someone who was only twenty-one years old. so etienne has never had to struggle with his studies and has never had to worry a lot about it. but he tried his best to empathize. “ isn’t the goal somewhere close to one… or… none ? “ 

“That’s the goal, sure. But does it actually happen? No, that’s just called studying for your Master’s degree.” Rohen was always a good student, but being a perfectionist caused him more stress than necessary. 

“that’s fantastic, rohen!” her happiness for him - and pride in him, something she had no rights to feel but couldn’t quench in spite of knowing - clear, jean gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, grin huge. “you should tell your mum and dad ; they’ll be SO proud of you. scott might even be a little jealous.” 

“Thank you, Jean. It was rough, getting that done.” Rohen always adored Jean, or rather the stories of her, but he was never sure of where she stood with Emma. He never really cared, despite him being his mother’s biggest supporter. “Oh, definitely. I think my mom might actually throw a party, that might not be an exaggeration.”

a flicker of concern washed over scott, a frown momentarily appearing on his face as he heard rohen mention a lack of sleep. but in his determination to avoid becoming a helicopter parent, he dropped it, instead pursing his lips as he watched his son. “well, it’ll be my treat- where would you like to go?”

“Honestly? All I want is a donut and sleep.” He was surprised at how open and genuinely excited he was to go somewhere with Scott. It wasn’t so long ago that he would’ve shut down the idea of going anywhere with him if Emma wasn’t going with them. 

“look at you go, you didn’t even ask me to edit it for you,” margot gave her friend a smile. “i think us having to basically do book reports on crime every week is really paying off on the writing front for us,” she joked. 

“I know! Isn’t it miracle?” Rohen laughed, calming down and sitting again. “Hey, not wrong. My thesis paper was about how more pieces about mutants being published could help homo sapien and homo superior relations, and somehow I added in crimes in there.”

bucky looked up and gave the other a small smile, moving slightly out of the way so he’d have enough room. “go crazy, pal. ain’t like anyone’s fighting to come sit with me.”

“Always polite to ask first, isn’t it?” Rohen shrugged as he sat down. “I don’t know if we’ve met, I’m Rohen.” He extended a hand out.

“Congratulations Rohen!” Scott was beaming, an overwhelming sense of pride washing over him as he listened to his son’s accomplishments. “Shall we go out to celebrate?”

“Thanks, dad. Weeks of barely sleeping paid off.” Rohen’s grin stayed bright as he shut his laptop, happy not to have to open it for school for a while. “Yeah! I actually only want to do that.”